While restaurants are projected add more than 500,000 summer jobs for the fourth consecutive year, hiring will be somewhat dampened compared to recent years, according to National Restaurant Association (NRA) Chief Economist Bruce Grindy.
Restaurants are expected to add 515,000 jobs this summer season, according to NRA’s 18th Annual Eating and Drinking Place Summer Employment Forecast.
The projected 2016 gain would represent the fourth consecutive year in which restaurants added at least 500,000 jobs during the summer season.
Although restaurants will add more than that number of jobs this summer, hiring will be somewhat dampened compared to recent years, with the projected increase of 515,000 seasonal jobs representing the smallest gain since 2012.
Eating and drinking places added a record 551,200 jobs during the 2013 summer season, followed by gains of 515,900 jobs during the 2014 season and 527,100 jobs during the 2015 season.
The expected curtailed hiring during the 2016 summer season will be due in large part to higher labor costs that restaurant operators face in many regions of the country, as well as a relatively tighter labor market compared to recent years.
The states projected to add the most eating and drinking place jobs during the 2016 summer season are New York (44,400), California (41,700), Massachusetts (30,700), Texas (29,700), Ohio (25,500), New Jersey (25,300), Illinois (22,800) and Michigan (21,900).
The states projected to register the largest proportional employment increase during the 2016 summer season are Maine (32.1 percent increase), Alaska (18.9 percent increase), Delaware (17.6 percent increase), Rhode Island (15.1 percent increase) and New Hampshire (14.3 percent increase).
Due to the fact that their busiest seasons for travel and tourism are not in the summer months, two states are projected to register declines in eating and drinking place employment during the 2016 summer season: Florida (-10,900) and Arizona (-7,600).
Generally, the U.S. restaurant industry begins to ramp up its summer seasonal hiring in April, and it peaks in June, July and August.
